"Let me go!" I shoved at his chest. "Kholod, what the fuck's wrong with you?!"
"Wrong with me?" He laughed coldly, grabbing my wrists with one hand and slamming them above my head. "I'm just realizing I've been a joke from the start!"
"You are a joke!" I fired back in fury. "A joke who latches onto a bracelet and calls someone his savior! A stalker who watches people like a creep! An arrogant—"
"Enough!"
His roar made my ears ring.
The next second, I heard fabric ripping.
The sound tore through the air.
My nightgown split open, cold air hitting my skin, and I shivered uncontrollably.
"Kholod! You psycho! Let me go!" I thrashed wildly.
He pinned my legs with his knee, holding me still.
His gaze dropped to my chest—those two Cyrillic tattoos, stark under the light.
"Look at this," he said, his fingers roughly grinding over the skin. I gasped in pain. "Where do you think you're running to? Noelle, you've been mine for a while now."
"I'm not yours!" I glared at him, tears welling up. "You forced me!"
"Not?" He smirked. "Then what's this? Just decoration?"
His fingers pressed hard on the tattoo, then circled around, brushing the tip of my breast accidentally. A tingle shot through me, and I stifled a moan.
"Kholod..." I clenched my teeth. "Why not go after Isabella? She's your real savior, so why get worked up over me?"
I regretted it the instant it left my mouth.
He froze, his whole body rigid. Rage exploded in his eyes like a volcano.
"Looks like," his voice dropped low and terrifying, each word dragged from his throat, "I need to show you why in a way you'll understand."
He leaned down and bit hard into the tattoo on my chest.
"Ah—!" Pain ripped a scream from me.
I tried to break free, but he held me down like iron.
He lifted his head, those amber eyes now dark as an abyss.
"Don't even think about shoving me off to someone else," he growled, his breath hot against my skin. He bent lower, his tongue flicking out to lick the tattoo, slow and deliberate. The bite mark throbbed, a sharp pain mingling with an itchy numbness that spread like wildfire through my body. It hurt, but the sensation twisted into something else—my skin flushing, heat pooling between my legs asmy nipples hardened in the cool air. I bit my lip hard, trying to hold back, but a soft whimper escaped anyway, my hips shifting involuntarily.
"See? You're such a slut," Kholod murmured, his voice laced with mockery as he watched my body react. "I barely touch you, and you're already soaking wet, squirming like you can't get enough."
Fury surged through me like a storm. How dare he talk to me like that? I kicked out hard, my foot connecting with his crotch by accident. He grunted in pain, but instead of pulling away, he snatched my ankle in a vise-like grip, his fingers digging in.
"So eager to please," he said with a twisted grin, his eyes gleaming with dark amusement. "Guess I need to find a way to make you behave."
He yanked my hands higher, binding them securely to the headboard with silk ties—tight and unyielding, cutting off any chance of escape. Then he reached into the nightstand drawer, pulling out two metal cuffs. He snapped them around my ankles, spreading my legs wide apart and chaining each one to the bedposts at the foot of the bed. With a rough, deliberate tug, he stripped away the tattered remnants of my nightgown, along with my underwear, leaving me completely naked and exposed, every inch of my body on display.
I was splayed open, vulnerable and humiliated, shame burning through me like acid alongside the raw anger. My core ached from the earlier teasing, and now with my legs forced apart, I felt utterly powerless. "If you can't handle this, just kill me!" I spat, my voice trembling with rage and defiance.
He chuckled darkly, the sound low and menacing. "Oh, I'll kill you—but not like that. I'll fuck the life out of you instead, make you scream until you can't anymore."
